Should We Be Concerned With Over-Marketing?
View Large ImageI still remember a time when the idea of seeing a video game commercial on TV was just plain silly. I.e., it could never happen. I still remember thinking a full trailer for a game shown in movie theaters couldn't happen, either. But these days, gaming is big business, and commercials and ads are commonplace. The question is, should we worry about over-marketing?
Look, it's great for the industry. More money means more resources and more opportunities to recruit the best artistic and technical talent in the world. There's no doubt we've benefited from the vastly increased popularity and overall sales, as development studios have continued to expand and impress in most every conceivable way. But there is one major difference between then and now: back then, I'd say at least 90% of those who participated in gaming would consider themselves "hardcore." It was a primary hobby. It was geeky, but we got into it. It was like being part of your own underground little club and that "little club" is very, very mainstream now. Recent analyst and publisher estimates say about 80% of the market is "casual" now.
The "casual" market, as we all know, is easily swayed by in-your-face ads and marketing. They're not frequenting game forums and doing a ton of research and chatting with hardcore followers of the industry. Almost by default, the casuals are not exactly arbiters of top-notch quality. It's great that gaming may very well be the only industry left that rewards quality; i.e., the best selling games are often the best received by critics. On the flip side, the worst tripe in the movie, music and book industries seem to top the charts. But how long can this last for video games if the casual market begins to dominate what we want...? They will readily respond to the aforementioned in-your-face advertising and the circle will begin: big advertising for game that isn't so great; casuals respond; game sells great, developers create another "meh" game.
Fortunately, I don't believe the situation is quite so dire just yet. And this is because the developers are gamers themselves. They want to create the best, most memorable product possible. They do care about sales, of course, but so many are so unbelievably dedicated and their #1 priority is quality. So long as game makers remain this way, and overall, consumers continue to reward quality on the whole, everything should be fine. I just worry about the day when the casual market makes everything go topsy-turvy and the masses turn gaming into the other entertainment venues...where chick lit dominates books, the most processed, artificial "music" tops charts, and "Hot Tub Time Machine" is #1 at the box office.
10/1/2010 Ben Dutka
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Comments (64 posts)
Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 9:52:57 PM
And it's noteworthy that you mentioned From Software first. Although they're more 3rd party, than 2nd or first, the Sony exclusive that they developed, namely Demon's Souls, is an example of a game that received almost zero marketing, and therefore, was not shaped by the demands of the casual mass market.
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:41:07 PM
What does From Software being a third party company have to do with quality and genre demands? Sure, Sony seems to be the ones creating the best, most varied products, but they aren't the only company. I'd cite Sega as another company not trying deperately to latch onto the mainstream. Another example is Rockstar, they are only continuing to do what they've always done. Even Square-Enix IMO. Sure, they may be trying to capture the mass market, but they are also TRYING to keep their essence intact (not really succeeding). All in all, I think your comment is a bit short-sighted.
Peace.
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Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:10:26 PM
It's just that in my experience, 1st/2nd party market outputs a higher ratio the of AAA titles to non-AAA ones, than the 3rd party market. It is true that companies like Rockstar are exceptional, but they are also THE exception. And i think this is because 3rd party studios have a greater pressure to make what will sell, first and foremost. Because if their product doesn't sell, they will sink. And in this way, even Rockstar has a greater pressure to continuing doing what they've always done. It's just that they're fortunate that the formula they've always relied on has always sold well.
Publishers like Sony however can afford to take a greater risk in focusing on quality, uniqueness, variety and innovation, because in the long run, that is how they ensure their success, rather than just focusing on the immediate market. That is healthy brandname recognition: When the brand name becomes synonymous with quality, over many product generations, and a product gets attention because of it's quality, rather than a publisher having to simply endorse a product that garners attention simply by embracing the current fad.
Last edited by Shams on 10/1/2010 11:16:54 PM
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:20:13 PM
Developers prove quality, and seek to maintain it. This is why I still have high hopes for Enslaved in spite of evidence to the contrary. Publishers seek the money, and do so through the quality of developers. Sony has an excellent team behind them, as does 2K and Sega. They can realistically do as they please, as they can always make back their losses on another product.
Peace.
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:25:39 PM
Activision isn't liked because they pushed the hell out of Guitar Hero, to the point that people stopped buying it and seem to be doing the same to CoD. They also produce very few new IPs of high quality. Of course, it doesn't help that their CEO is always making a right tw@t out of himself through saying things that grind the gears of gamers.
Peace.
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Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:28:54 PM
But i also think this is where Sony and MS diverge. MS, like R*, focuses more on what has sold and what will sell, where as Sony takes greater risks on variety and uniqueness...and dare i say quality.
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Alienange
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:31:54 AM
Last edited by Alienange on 10/2/2010 10:32:19 AM
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Lotusflow3r
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 11:32:45 AM
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Alienange
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:57:58 PM
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Clamedeus
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:59:37 PM
Take a break do something new, the only COD game I'm going to be getting is Black Ops, and that's it for me. I'm starting to grow stale of it, Black Ops's customization looks good from what I've seen of the brand new trailer that came out and that's the only game I'm probably getting from them.
They need to branch out more with genres.
Last edited by Clamedeus on 10/2/2010 2:00:03 PM
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sirbob6
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 9:52:10 PM
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Also if they keep the ads tasteful it helps, so no more live action crap, its cool but doesn't inform you on the game much. Also if they are tasteful and don't blow things out of proportion it won't wrongly swing opinion. So if you keep the commercials nice and informative, and don't advertise obscene amounts it won't hurt the industry.
Last edited by sirbob6 on 10/1/2010 10:01:33 PM
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Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:04:40 PM
One example of a game that stood to benefit from huge marketing campaign was Mass Effect 2. It wasn't exactly a twitch-fest like MW2, and was very much a gamer's game, so to speak.
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Beamboom
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 5:48:44 PM
What a bunch of crap. Adverts are adverts, period. 95% of them are just noise. Regardless of industry.
Oh - and heavy rain was not a game. It was an interactive movie. They even said so themselves.
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/2/2010 5:50:34 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:14:13 PM
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At any rate this is the kind of thing that worries me too because mediocre always sells better than top quality in every industry after it has existed a certain amount of time. Story always takes a backseat to flash eventually. Like you say though, as long as devs are gamers too, we should always see some sweet innovative titles.
BUT, due to gaming being a mainstream big business and our club being full of wannabes, we're also flooded with Suits. And the more Bobby Koteck's there are in the world the worse games will get.
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Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:43:55 PM
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:31:24 PM
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Of course, marketing will play a role, as the more money a company makes, the more they have to spend on marketing in order to popularise their products. It's a tactic that has been seen time and time again. And it's corrosive. Popularity destroys integrity. When integrity falls, so too does quality, but it will continue to be gobbled up by the masses as they are told by their friends that this is the pinnacle of quality. Proof: Look at Avatar. While not a bad film, an incredible amount of hype was built up, and it really disappointed.
Your final point about developers being gamers is a bit of a moot point. I mean, many musicians listen to music, many directors and actors watch films, but this doesn't seem to stop them from pushing out bland trash in most cases. This cycle has already begun. You can see it in the sales figures of CoD and Halo. While these aren't at all bad games, they are popular as a result of hype. The hype builds, and while some don't buy into it, their thoughts migrate as they see and hear their friends enjoying it, and BOOM! They buy it. It's a worry, but as long as someone is keeping the flame of quality and originality alive, I'll remain hopeful.
Peace.
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:22:26 AM
On the other hand, I truly believe most every game developer sets out to make something great that will be well received by critics and well respected by gamers. And I DO believe that's a rare trait in entertainment.
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:14:38 AM
It seems to be easier for developers to clone the mechanics of another game, and then add in their own story. I think in that respect, it's unfair to compare the two mediums as they are so very different in the way that they are made and concepted.
Eh it's a theory for the future, and one that certainly seems bleak. Let's hope your right, eh?
Peace.
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Underdog15
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:50:16 PM
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If you ask me, the casual market and over advertising with BLAM in your face special effects is already stunting artistic growth in some genres.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 10/1/2010 10:50:55 PM
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 10:58:08 PM
Peace.
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:28:35 PM
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Underdog15
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:07:19 AM
I kid! i kid....
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Underdog15
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:40:51 PM
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Temjin001
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:14:03 PM
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So I can't really say. I did see a youTube vid of a Halo Reach ad. It was actually really well produced. It nearly looked like a Hollywood movie.
But in general, I think overly sensationalizing stuff bothers me. I think. I dunno. I sort of liked when Star Wars made a come back and there was Star Wars stuff everywhere.
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Shams
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:23:02 PM
I also don't watch TV. Ninjas never disengage, never let their guard down. Haha. It's true.
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Temjin001
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:14:04 PM
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So I can't really say. I did see a youTube vid of a Halo Reach ad. It was actually really well produced. It nearly looked like a Hollywood movie.
But in general, I think overly sensationalizing stuff bothers me. I think. I dunno. I sort of liked when Star Wars made a come back and there was Star Wars stuff everywhere.
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Temjin001
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:15:05 PM
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Lawless SXE
Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 11:22:28 PM
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Mornelithe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:01:42 AM
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Simcoe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:37:28 AM
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Killa Tequilla
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:10:24 AM
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1 up, 4 down
Naztycuts
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 12:28:03 AM
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:05:00 AM
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Simcoe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:41:57 AM
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BTNwarrior
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:03:12 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:10:09 AM
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Gone
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:21:35 AM
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Simcoe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:44:16 AM
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:02:28 AM
Peace.
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Simcoe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 8:55:35 AM
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fluffer nutter
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:23:14 AM
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Marketing is good for the masses because they're sheep. The sheep help pay the bills.
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WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:30:22 AM
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___________
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:34:59 AM
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as ive said a million times the commercialization of games has been the destruction of them this gen!
games use to be seen as a niche form of entertainment so they were not made to make money, they were made for a passion of making games.
obviously they got money out of it, nothing comes free, but the developers really had a passion for games and because of that passion they were all great.
these days 90% of developers could not give a rats a$$ about their games, they could not care less if people love them and nominate them for awards, or if people hate them and call them utter pieces of tripe!
rebellion for example, 2 of their last games rouge warrior and AvP are 2 of the worst games i have ever played!
you think they give a sh*t?
gone are the days where games were made for a passion, now there made for a quick buck and that drags in people who really dont care about games and we end up with antivision, sega, crapcom or $E!
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 4:13:10 AM
Peace.
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___________
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:01:35 AM
sega really have not released one good game this gen!
ps1, ps2, hell even their console days they use to be up there with capcom they use to be the 2 best developers.
these days, o how they have fallen from grace!
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:51:51 PM
Also, Valkyria Chronicles is a great game, and Yakuza 3 is also supposedly. The same goes for Bayonetta. Sure they've had bombs in AvP, the Sonic games and Alpha Protocol, but that's just the way things are.
Peace.
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A2K78
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 6:52:11 AM
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Secondly its not over-markting which shouldn't be of concern(since that its a non-issue and have been as staple of the industry ever since the 80's), but game butgets. To it quite frank, game developmet get is getting out of hand, its getting usustainable and at the same time its killing the video game industry just as high budgets is hurting hollywood. Even the leftist news magazine Slate(who I never tend to agree with) and CNBC both agree agree that high budgets are hurting game industry:
http://www.slate.com/id/2210732/
http://m.cnbc.com/id/35932496/As_Video_Game_Development_Costs_Rise_So_Do_Risks
As for the issue of over-marketing, regardless of industry marketing would always be a central feature as its how businesses(and politicans) sell themselves.
Last edited by A2K78 on 10/2/2010 6:53:28 AM
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laxpro2001
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 9:47:31 AM
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I can see your point Ben, its very valid and I think one day it will happen. However we must ask ourselves how much of the "casual gamers" would have brought these amazing triple AAA titles of this generation if thats all they are is casual gamers.
It stinks that great games won't receive as much representation via commercials and promotions especially when they lose it to garbage. However they still will revive some of they attention they need and in a medium where they will be payed attention to, ie. this site, kotaku, and other gaming news places. One game that comes to mind is Demons Souls. That game had no promotion and the only reason I knew about it was because of psxextreme. I learned about it because I'm a hardcore gamer and I want to play stuff that I choose not stuff that is chosen for me, as well as play games that will interest me.
Basically what I'm trying to say is amongst the hardcore gamers, we will find games that are amazing and tell others (who actually want to play them) about them.
It's not ideal but it is somewhat effective. But its what we've got as of right now as I feel what you described in the article is inevitable to some extent. Granted I think people tend to think more about a $60 game purchase than a $10 movie ticket so hopefully it never gets as bad as just buying what you see previews for.
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Lawless SXE
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 1:59:19 PM
I too think that people will always consider the purchase of a game more than a movie due to the massive price difference, but there are a lot of, shall we say, less than reasonable people in the world. Ah well, c'est la vie all that.
Peace.
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Lotusflow3r
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:23:46 AM
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But, the dark day will inevitably come.
This generation, i have been enthusiastic to few games compared to the last generations. It's becoming rarer and rarer to see a truly well thought out, intelligent game. When i say intelligent, i don't necessarily mean deep and articulate, i mean a game that doesn't INSULT my intelligence such as a mind numbing, hand holding, eye candy game.
I couldn't name 5 games that i desperately want recently and that's never happened. I have bought probably a quarter of the games i had this time last generation.
Not many are challenging my imagination, giving me that magical feeling and being permanently stamped on my mind.
Someone posed the notion to me that maybe we're now spoiled, thanks to what we can now achieve with these consoles or that i am simply suffering from nostalgia. I told him it's entirely the opposite.
I gave him the example of Demon's Souls and LittleBigPlanet, two this generation games at either end of the stick that both leave an ever lasting impression on me. They give me THAT feeling.
This generation will probably be my "What if?" generation. We have a console that can hold the key to the next great innovations, and we're using it little. The creations we could of had this generation is enough to make me upset. They still come thanks to a certain stance on innovation etc by Sony and few others....and we get the Heavy Rains, Demon's Souls, Last Guardians, LittleBigPlanets and The Another Worlds....but they're few and far between now and i think it'll get fewer.
But, as i said, i also agree. The game industry is still in the OK despite it being hugely commercial now. A great example is Red Dead Redemption, a hugely commercial game, critically adored, sold by the bucket load and actually IS an intelligent game with tons of depth.
The only sad thing is that i hear the clock ticking.
Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 10/2/2010 10:25:40 AM
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Alienange
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 10:51:41 AM
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Any fool who wants to sell something has to do marketing. Games, currently being as popular as they are, are bound to be marketed up the wazoo. In my opinion it doesn't kill anything, it brings it to life.
Or are we so elite that our minds do not allow for any other form of gaming? It always has to be what's "great" to us and there's no room for the perceived casual, twitch or whatever other degrading label we can come up with next.
I say if you game because of a commercial, then good for you. If you game because you own a Wii, then good for you. If you game because you think the games you buy are the best on the market, then good for you. There's room here for all of us.
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Lotusflow3r
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 11:25:30 AM
What we're are worried about, is it going too far ala music or film industries which has basically killed the mainstream areas of said industries (see last bit of editorial).
So far in gaming, you have correct points, but there are worries and i try to explain mine above.
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Alienange
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:07:27 PM
I'm practically convinced that people just like to separate themselves from what's popular in order to look and sound superior. As if "their day" was better and what you get "these days" is just crap. It's called taste and creativity, and it comes around in all generations of mankind.
I think marketing is necessary for any form of entertainment, but I don't believe the majority of people are blind to it.
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Scarecrow
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 2:48:03 PM
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 7:40:18 PM
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Underdog15
Sunday, October 03, 2010 @ 4:53:18 PM
Marketing 101 shows that sales drastically improve with more exposure to various media outlets. In fact, they say you might sell to someone if they see 2 or 3 ads, they'll seriously consider it after seeing 7 or 8 different ads, and the general consumer population will 85% of the time make a purchase if they are subjected to 15+ various advertisements.
Now, I'm no business major, but that's also certainly the case in fundraising campaigns as well!
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WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 3:25:30 PM
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wizzardofozzy
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 5:48:35 PM
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FM23
Saturday, October 02, 2010 @ 6:10:08 PM
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Scarecrow
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Friday, October 01, 2010 @ 9:37:27 PM
It all started when Microsoft came in. Activision wanting to take out the fun in gaming. Devs like Ninja Theory thinking that selling 1 million + isn't good enough, etc.
The death of genres really is sad. Jrpgs are history as well as platformers (thank god for Mario Galaxy and Ratchet&Clank).
We'll see, I just hope companies like From Software, Polyphony, Kojima's team, and Team ICO, Naughty Dog, etc. always hold artistic value over everything else.